Sarr continues hot Euro form to help ease Eagles into Conference League semi-finals

Palace on the attack in Florence : Picture by Pennie Turrell

UEFA Conference League quarter-final second leg

Fiorentina (1) 2 Gudmundsson pen 30, Ndour 53

Crystal Palace (1) 1 Sarr 17

(Palace win 4-2 on aggregate)

The end of Crystal Palace's undefeated run spanning six games and six weeks, hardly mattered here in Florence on Thursday as the visitors were two goals too good on aggregate for their Italian hosts in the Conference League quarter-final.

Consequently it was Palace who made reasonably comfortable progress to a semi-final against Shakhtor Donetsk, the first leg of which will take place in the Ukrainians' ' temporary home of Krakow in Poland on April 30.

Apart from a brief spell of pressure from Fiorentina, during which they scored their second goal of the second leg in the Artemio Franchi Stadium, there was seldom much danger of Palace going out although they played over half the game seriously depleted by injuries to Adam Wharton and Max Lacroix.

The hope will be that that both make quick recoveries, with the first of those semi-final legs now less than two weeks away.

Palace's survival then was largely thanks to their rejigged and resolute defence to which Chadi Riad made a crucial contribution.

"We coped with the situation," said manager Oliver Glasner. "We defended really well and over the two legs we deserved to go through." With a reference to the previous night's glorious Bayern Munich v Real Madrid tie, he added: "it's not always possible to play brilliant football. Sometimes you've got to do what you need to do to win."

Palace were unfortunate not to add to their aggregate 3-0 lead as early as the fourth minute when Daniel Munoz sent a cross-shot speeding towards the large and boisterous contingent of travelling fans.

His miss mattered little, as the rampaging Colombian wing back subsequently sent Ismaila Sarr's pass first time back into the middle for Sarr to maintain his hot scoring streak with a bullet of a header into the roof of David de Gea's net.

That gave Palace a 4-0 aggregate advantage after only 17 minutes. It was his seventh goal in this season's competition.

The former Manchester United goalkeeper went full length to deny Sarr another goal before Fiorentina belatedly and luckily gained a a foothold in the tie.

No sooner had Dean Henderson kept out Albert Gudmundsson's  shot with a flying save than Jayden Canvot flew into a challenge on Rolando Mandragora. It  seemed innocuous enough but a flag waving linesman persuaded the Spanish referee Gil Manzano to point to the spot.

The lengthy delay caused by Wharton straining an abductor muscle seconds earlier failed to harm the composure of the excellent Albert Gudmundsson, who sent Dean Henderson the wrong way with his 31st minute penalty.

Although Yeremy Pino tested de Gea again after the interval, Palace had by now lost Lacroix to a strained ligament and were possibly fearing the worst when half-time substitute Cher Ndour fired low past Henderson after 53 minutes.

Jack Harrison, the former Leeds and Everton man, could have made a name for himself by adding to Palace's plight but his weak shot was safely held by Henderson. With Jorgen Strand Larsen now replacing Jean-Philippe Mateta to lead what existed of their attack, Palace safely weathered the remnants of Fiorentina's storm. It petered out as swiftly as it had originated.

La Viola: (3-4-2-1) De Gea - Pongracic, Comuzzo (Kouadio 70), Ranieri - Harrison, Mandragora, Fagioli (Ndour h/t), Gosens (Balbo 70) - Gudmundsson (Fabbian 75), Solomon (Fazzini 75) - Piccoli

Eagles: (3-4-3) Henderson - Richards, Lacroix (Riad 41), Canvot - Munoz, Wharton (Lerma 30), Kamada, Mitchell - Sarr, Mateta (Strand Larsen h/t), Pino (Hughes 73)